“YOUR words against our personal experience/hardship.”
This best described the quagmire Petron Malaysia and Caltex Malaysia found themselves in as they come under heavy fire from drivers in the northern regions of Penang, Kedah and Perak who reported vehicle breakdowns, severe jerking and starting issues after refuelling with RON95 petrol of both brands.
The anger was vented predominantly on both major retail petrol brands on various social media platforms with evidence of their RON95 purchase, cars being towed to the workshop and even images/video proof of so-called water/diesel contamination claim.
Even an official statement by Petron Malaysia denying any detection of contamination (including water) in RON95 fuel sold at its service stations following a seemingly ‘in-house’ investigation only invited further pot shots that the “test should be conducted by a third party”.
“Take the sample from the affected car, not from the Petron station farm,” jibed one commenter with another teasing Petron Malaysia for finding an easy way to wriggle out of a problem.
“Haha … all cars breakdown at the same time … well done, Petron …wash hand and taichi (slang for “pass the buck”) altogether.”
One seasoned motorist chipped in with a sensible observation: “Engine doesn’t lie. It was designed to operate at certain minimum fuel requirements. It’ll definitely show sign of abnormalities if these conditions not met.”
A former shipping executive shared that having filled up “full tank” on Oct 1, his car wouldn’t start the next day”.
“It was sputtering – no compression. I sent it to the workshop yesterday (Oct 6) to flush out the fuel I had pumped on Oct 1. The result? The colour was vastly different,” he recounted.
“The official statement from Petron Malaysia really makes me angry. But I ;ve to stay patient. So, from now on, I’m done refueling at Petron. Goodbye.”
This is when one legally sound commenter suggested a cost-effective way for affected motorists to take action, notably by “keeping the evidence (flushed out fuel sample) and later file a claim with the Consumer Claims Tribunal”.
“You can handle the filing process yourself. No need to hire a lawyer which can be costly and time consuming. It’s a way to teach a big company like this a lesson,” he asserted.
If they were being professional, they would call in all the affected victims, take sample and conduct lab tests.
Just going to the station to check if there is water or not – that doesn’t count as an investigation. The issue might stem from a problem with the specific batch of fuel delivered.
Caltex not spared
Perhaps all motorists affected by the suspected contaminated petrol issue can group together to initiate a collective action in their quest to seek compensation.
For starters, those who are financially capable can perhaps “drive their cars to the USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) lab, pay for the service and have the test conducted there,” mooted one commenter.
“As a third party with integrity, USM’s findings regarding the petrol samples would be credible. The sample must be drawn directly from the fuel tank of the vehicle in question,” he insisted.
“If we were to bring only the sample to the lab ourselves, Petron’s lawyers would likely claim that we deliberately contaminated their petrol. They’ll keep passing the buck for as long as they can.”
Elsewhere, Caltex Malaysia was also ticked off by netizens following its media statement that it has run through checks at fuel quality allegations concerning its service station in Batu Kawan, Penang.
Like Petron Malaysia, the retailer’s claim that “the fuel supplied to the service station meets the required specifications” was disputed by motorists who wanted to view for themselves “the test report endorsed by specialist lab/chemist”.
Worse still, the contamination problem seems to have spread to the central region of Klang Valley and Melaka as reported by some motorists. – Oct 8, 2026
